Degrees of Succession
by RadioRegicide
Summary: Refused by the Digital World, denied by the government and forgotten by history. Five years on and divided they stand, strangers once more before the oncoming storm because life goes on and they've all grown up without a purpose. The mantel is passed and the Tamers find themselves faced with the responsibilities of their forerunners: to defeat the one enemy they never could.
1. The Shape I'm In

**Obligatory**** disclaimer: I don't own _Digimon_, durr.**

_Digimon_ is a franchise I grew up with and despite having never written for it prior to this I hope to do this great franchise the justice it deserves; all I ask is that you settle down and enjoy, for the road ahead is a long and there is much to be done.

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_**Degrees of **_**_Succession_**

* * *

**I**

* * *

_You don't know the shape I'm in_  
_This isn't the real me_  
_Know the shape I'm in_  
_Living half asleep_  
_Just live with the pain_  
_I've got a job to do_  
_I'd never make it without you_

_The Shape I'm In _- I Am The Avalanche

* * *

**July Seventeenth****  
**

* * *

**Takato Matsuki**

* * *

The cries of car horns sang out together, their rackety symphony the same awful tune as every other morning whilst people slowly went insane waiting for someone to move amidst the rush-hour traffic. It was still far to early and everyone was running low on patience, all so wrapped up in their own lives as they tried to get where they needed to go that one lone teenager sprinting down the street in a mad dash hardly seemed all that special.

But as he tore down the street like a wanted man in attempt to make it to school on time, Takato Matsuki couldn't help but panic as he weaved his way between the jostling crowd with practised ease; _Miss Asaji is going to dump me in detention for the rest of the week for sure! _The thought spurred him on, twisting and turning to avoid colliding with the endless mass of people, his shoulder bag rocking back and forth against his lower back as he tried to push himself to go faster - he really didn't need _another_ detention for tardiness.

A few people cried out as he nearly crashed into them, clearly annoyed; "Shomry!" Takato tried shouting over his shoulder, but his apology was muffled by his breakfast, a pastry he'd pinched on his way out of the bakery's back-door, but the man who he had bounced off of just looked at him in disapproval, shaking his head. Trying his best to to wave off an apology instead, the young man skidded around another corner, barely staying upright, wincing as the stitch in his side made itself known.

"Awwww… _nuts_!" Takato groaned to himself, arms flailing in the air as he caught his balance, taking off again with renewed vigour. Though in his rush he failed to catch a few of the questioning looks he got, forgetting he must have looked a little odd talking to himself in broad daylight as he weaved his way down the street.

The dark, mandatory uniform jacket that all the boys had to wear wasn't exactly making things any easier on him; helping him to work up a sweat under the glare of the summer sun. Doing his best, the runaway student undid the first few buttons hoping it would let him cool down a little but knowing his luck it wouldn't help much at all. Under his the black jacket was the standard, long-sleeved, button-up shirt, still half open and creased in his rush to get out the door with a baggy blue t-shirt whilst the black slacks he had to wear looked a complete mess (given Takato was at that awkward point were everything was either to short or long in the leg and nothing seemed to fit him properly), the ends a shredded mess of loose thread and fabric. His black, red and white ankle-high converse trainers hammering off the pavement.

_This has to be a new record for me, _Takato thought as he cruised around another corner he couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of relief when he spotted Shinjuku Central High School just up the street, located on the other side of the road. _Almost there__… _he though with relief, panting as he ran a hand through his mop of brown hair, which was (as per usual) a complete mess; half a dozen strands falling down over the chequered white-and-black head band he wore to hang in front of his ruby eyes with the rest flying out in every possible directions.

The grounds of Shinjuku Central High School blurred past him when he finally made it past the school gate, jumping up a set of small steps before finding another in his path. If he had had time, he might have stopped to admire the grounds, not to mention the cherry blossom trees stationed near the picnic benches on the grass made for a great places to take shelter from the sun. Pushing such thoughts to the back of his mind, he dashed up the large main steps to the front door, taking the white stone steps three at a time, wrenching the front doors open and skidding across the wooden floor of the entrance hall.

His trainers squeaked horribly against the freshly polished floor and Takato almost lost his balance in surprise; the floor must've just been waxed. Thankfully he was able to avoid falling on his face, he'd done it before and had no desire for a repeat performance though the exhausted eleventh grader ground to a halt right in front of his locker with surprising accuracy. Tearing it open as soon as he entered the rushed combination, swapping out the books he would need before lunch for the ones he wouldn't. It paid to have a locker in line with the door, he thought, taking a moment to catch his breath before wolfing down the last of his pastry in a manner that would make Guilmon proud_._

Thanking the universe for cutting him a break, he slipped off his trainers and placed them in his locker before grabbing his _uwabaki _and slamming his locker shut. Jumping on the spot for a moment, he tried to slip on the soft white slippers one at a time before eventually taking off in the direction of the stairs at the end of the corridor, having succeeded in getting the shoes on without landing on his face.

Takato made the stairs in good time, seeing as his classroom was on the second floor before flying down the last stretch to the other end of the corridor, where room two-three awaited him as it always did. But to his great dismay, someone stood outside waiting for him. Throwing on the breaks as fast he could, he was lucky to not crash straight into the displeased form of Miss Nami Asaji. Though he had thought her gone forever when he left elementary and escaped into middle school, she had returned with a vengeance upon his entry into high school.

"Why, good morning, Takato," Miss Asaji said in that false calm voice she always used when annoyed, and Takato forced a chuckle, rubbing at the back of his like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Please do tell; what was it this time?"

Takato did make to answer, opening his mouth, but for once his brain was on point and he caught himself - thinking better off it before he could make the hole he stood in any deeper. In the end he settled for looking at an interesting spot on the floor, resigning himself to whatever fate Miss Asaji had for him. _Detention_, he knew it was coming, and on the week before summer vacation, too. _My luck blows..._

"I think you can wait out here while I try to decided what to do with you," again Takato nodded, shoulders slumping, he really should've known. Sighing, he positioned himself against the wall by the door, so that Miss Asaji would still be able to see him from inside of class and prepared for the long stand that was ahead of him.

_Well,_ Takato thought, sourly, _today is off to a great start..._

* * *

Mundane wasn't the right word, Takato told himself, tapping the end of his pen against his desk. Boring didn't seem like the right word either, he decided as he listened to Mr Morimoto, an elderly man who had a strained, croaking voice that went well with his rubbery skin and watery eyes, all of which him look like a mutated toad, drone on and on for what seemed to be forever.

He could hear the dim tick-tick-tock of the clock hands echoing from the front of the class as they dragged themselves around the clock face as Takato's mind did what it did best - wander. It was something he'd noticed over the years: the last fifteen minutes before the end of the day always dragged on, taunting him, knowing well and good all he wanted was for the classes to end already. He supposed that Mr Morimoto being one of those teachers who could open his mouth and find his entire class asleep in front of him wasn't helping the situation.

Takato just resigned himself to his fate, chin resting in the palm of one hand with his head lolling off to the side, eyelids dipping and a yawn stuck in the back of his throat. He'd lost interest in the lesson as soon as it began; instead he'd spent his time staring out the window by his desk.

The young brunette was vaguely aware that Mr Morimoto was drawling on about a report he wanted them to write over the summer describing in English an important event in their life and how it had changed them as a person with the stipulation they make the chosen instance sound as interesting as possible. So far Takato had worked his way down a laundry-list of words that summed up his life whilst trying to conjure an event he could write about. Nothing he could think of really seemed to fit the criteria. Sure, as the son of bakers he met all sorts of people when he helped his parents out and working in the bakery was fun, but it was hardly life altering.

The only thing Takato could think of that had ever happened to him which was even remotely interesting, that had helped him to grow as a person, was something he was forbidden from talking about by the government as it was classified top secret. His time as a Digimon Tamer was unknown to anyone but those that had lived it with him during those precious few months that had changed him forever.

It was depressing when he looked back on it.

Nobody but the lucky few knew the truths of the ups, downs, struggles and sacrifices that he and his friends had made in order to protect one another, the city and Digital World from those that had sought to do them harm.

The reward they'd gotten for all the hard work they'd put in? They'd lost their Digimon back to the Digital World after which they'd all been given a pat on the back and a non-disclosure agreement shoved into their hands: the government's rather unsubtle way of telling them to keep their mouths shut. In the end the government had spun tall tales for the population at large in an attempt to explain everything that had taken place. The existence of Digimon had been denied and the truth swept under the rug and people had accepted it without even blinking; the world just wasn't ready according to the stiffs in suits.

_Guilmon…_ Takato thought with a smile tugging at his lips, thoughts of his Digimon partner happily stuffing his maw with mountains of bread coming to mind. It'd be five years on November ninth since he last saw the childish red dinosaur, five years since he had been a careless twelve year old boy who was living out his dream. Five years since he'd made a promise he now knew was all but impossible to keep.

He and Guilmon would never play together again, though not for a lack of trying. No sooner had Shinjuku pulled itself back together had Hypnos and the Monster Makers gotten to work trying to find a way to get the Digimon back after Takato's stumbling across the portal in Guilmon's old shed (though it had only lasted a handful of hours) had given them all hope.

Hope that had quickly flickered and died as reality came crashing down on top of them.

According to tests and assessments done by Hypnos on orders from the cabinet, the damage done to the barriers between worlds had somehow been repaired in the aftermath of the D-Reaper's attack and the higher ups in the government had decided that was how they would stay. Enough of the cabinet had come to believe that the problem with the Digimon and D-Reaper had been caused by Hypnos in the first place, or at least allowed to come to pass because of the damage to the barriers between worlds by Hypnos. So they were shut down before they could do it a second time.

_Supposedly_, anyway. The Hypnos Foundation was terminated just months after the defeat of the D-Reaper and the Monster Makers once again went their separate ways.

Prevention was better than cure, or so said the stuffy government officials until they were blue in the face when Yamaki, the former head of Hypnos had called the Tamers in to explain the situation to them personally. And, just like that, Hypnos was gone and with it went their last chance the of getting their Digimon back after Takato's portal ended up a bust.

It hadn't taken long at all after the news for the Tamers themselves to fall apart. It hadn't really occurred to Takato that without the Digimon to keep them together that the group would fracture until it happened right in front of him. Without the Digimon they'd lost the very thing that had given them purpose and without their partners they themselves were lost and confused, and in an attempt to find their way again they'd all stumbled off in different directions from each other.

They'd all slowly grown apart as they proceed to grow up and move on with their own lives.

His mother had said it was only natural, that was just how life went sometimes, that he honestly couldn't expect them all to stay friends forever. But he'd refused to accept it: people didn't go through what he and the other Tamers had only to drift apart. They couldn't, could they...? In the end he had waged a losing battle against life itself; there were just some things he couldn't stop no matter hard he tried. People moved on and changed, that was just an inevitable fact.

That was how the real world worked.

Jenrya's entire family had moved to Kyoto after his father had gotten a job there shortly after Hypnos' termination; despite strenuous debate and protest from the rest of the Wong family. Jen's father just wouldn't hear any of it, claiming that what he was being asked to be apart of in Kyoto was of the utmost importance. The pair of them had originally made an effort to stay in touch, via email and the like but it hadn't lasted very long, Takato wasn't sure when it happened, but after a while both he and Jen had just stopped talking, he didn't know if his old friend was even still living in Kyoto.

To the surprise of no one Ryo Akiyama disappeared off of the face of the earth after the D-Reaper had been defeated. Whilst Takato had never really known him to begin with, he still thought of the older Tamer as a friend and his absence had been felt throughout the group, even if he had only been with them briefly. Takato still had hope that wherever Ryo was the Legendary Tamer was well.

Juri was an interesting case; despite her wishes to stay with what remained of the Tamers and her other friends, on request from her father, Juri had gone to a different middle school from everyone else, and eventually a different high school so as to be closer to home. Takato still kept in touch with her, but admittedly they weren't nearly as close as they had been even if they still saw one another on the odd occasion she was passing through Shinjuku and stopped by his families bakery.

The one that hit the hardest was how things had ended with Rika. Or rather how they had blown up in his face. Somewhere along the line during their adventures they'd become close and over time she'd become his best friend. The copper haired girl was the one he'd counted on above all others, trusted without question, the one who would have his back no matter what happened. Or so he'd thought, until she'd proved him wrong.

But despite all the friends he'd lost over the years, both real and digital, he wasn't alone.

He still had Kazu and Kenta, the pair of them having ridden out the years with him; how they'd managed it Takato would never understand.

Even now Kazu was still there, sitting in front of him and mindlessly doodling in his textbook. If someone had told his twelve year old self that one day Kazu would become his best friend, he would've said they were crazy. Kenta had always been the one he had preferred to hang out with when they were younger but over the years the bespectacled boy had started to apply himself and break away from Kazu's ever shrinking influence, which had resulted in some rather nasty fights between the pair and Takato had somehow become the middle man during it all.

When Takato found himself hanging out with just Kazu he was surprised to find out that the other boy could actually be rather laid back and generally fun to be around when he wasn't acting the fool in attempt to impress everyone else with his antics. They had found things besides Kenta and Digimon to bond over and things had snowballed from there. The pair of them had become all but inseparable in and out of school.

Meanwhile Takato wondered if Kenta now felt how he had once upon a time, an outsider among his own supposed friends. The thought had once made him feel guilty that he might be alienating the other boy, but Kenta had found himself other friends to spend time with at school and only ever wanted to hang out with Takato when he knew Kazu wouldn't be around.

Apart of him had grown to be content with things as they were but Takato couldn't help but hope for more. He wanted _all_ his old friends back again, he wanted Guilmon to come back and for them to have new adventures as Tamer and partner – to laugh and play together again like the old days. He wanted to matter, to feel that what he did meant something. That his contribution was important – that he'd _lived _and not just existed.

He didn't want to be _average_. He didn't want to keep carrying his regrets around with him everywhere he went.

_Why am I thinking about this…? _It was all in the past, nothing could change what had happened and to mope over what was and could've been was simply a waste of time, he knew that. Still, sometimes he just couldn't help himself. His mind always had a nasty habit of wondering. It was all because of that stupid assignment for Morimoto,

Sighing, Takato turned his ruby eyes away from the board were Morimoto was writing something in his shaky scrawl to chance another glance out of the window.

The reflection that stared back at him was that of a young man with still maturing features and mossy brown hair that was spiky and unkempt, tickling at the at the base of his neck. His trademark yellow and blue goggles where long since gone and he still thought he didn't look right without them. He wasn't a Tamer so he had no right to wear the goggles, having buried them in a box at home alongside his old Digimon cards and D-arc; which had been dead ever since the portal in Guilmon's shed had vanished. He'd tried to fill the void his goggles had left with a chequered black and white headband but it wasn't the same. Not even close.

But just as that thought crossed his mind, he almost went flailing out of his seat as the piercing shriek of the school bell rang throughout the school. The noise was met with a silent chorus of cheers as almost every student in Takato's class moved as one, a single purpose uniting them as they all scrambled of their bags – getting home or heading to whatever after school activity they had.

Sighing in relief, Takato copied everyone else and grabbed his bag off the floor, hurriedly stuffing his books into his bag. Sweet freedom at long last, pity he would be back again tomorrow - at least summer vacation was only days off. Shaking his head the former Tamer grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, haphazardly pulling it on over his shirt. Lifting the strap of his bag over his shoulder, he let it drop onto his shoulder and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants he headed for the door were Hirokazu Shiota waited for him.

"Today is good, y'know?" Kazu joked as he leaned against the wall by the door. The other teen was tall, the tallest in their class in fact with a head of mahogany hair he kept stuffed under a plain white beanie, dark eyes twinkling. He too was otherwise dressed in the mandatory boy's school uniform, though his school jacket was ruffled, and the collar of his white shirt upturned and the top few buttons left undone, partially showing off the logo on the t-shirt he wore bellow.

"Sorry," Takato replied, rubbing at the back of his neck with a slight chuckle to which Kazu rolled his eyes.

"So what's the plan? Your practice got cancelled, right?" Kazu asked and Takato shrugged, he suspected his parents might want his help in bakery as the basketball team's practice had been cancelled when coach Takashi called in sick that morning. Admittedly whilst he wasn't the greatest basketball player the school had ever seen he was still good enough to make the team.

Kazu on the other hand ran as a member of the track team – something he'd opted to join because he thought just having to run wasn't all that a hard of a task for a sports club - given the schools healthy living policy required them to join in some sort of sports or after school club. It turned out to Kazu's dismay that he actually had to put in much more work in than he'd expected, something he never failed to complain about given his lazy disposition.

"Probably spend some time working in the bakery," Takato didn't mind the idea of having to go home and help out in the bakery, he'd been looking forward to practice but as long as his mother didn't follow up on her threat to make him clean his room he didn't mind. The red-eyed boy would do anything his mother wanted, anything but clean his room. He'd be there for days trying to organise the mess. Even Morimoto's assignment was a more appealing alternative. "You?"

"Work," Kazu grumbled, there was no pleasing him. If he wasn't complaining about how exhausting track was then it was how boring work was.

"Dude you work at the arcade, don't sound so excited," Takato joked, recalling a time when Kazu had been thrilled at the idea of getting a chance to work at the large arcade at Shinjuku's largest shopping centre. It seemed as though the reality hadn't lived up to his friend's expectations.

"Yeah, wandering around the arcade making sure no one is misbehaving and never actually getting to play anything, real fun." So began another one of Kazu's rants about never getting to do the fun stuff, that he only ever got stuck doing the boring tasks that took way more effort than they were worth. With practised ease, Takato just nodded in time, tuning the beanie wearing teen out having heard it all a hundred time before.

Okay, so he wouldn't change his friends for the world, Takato thought as he and Kazu reached the school's front doors but sometimes he wished he came with a mute button. Shaking his head, the former Tamers parted ways at the gates to the school when they finally reached them, heading in opposite directions, giving each a half-hearted good-bye and promise to talk later.

With his sights set on home, Takato headed off, cursing his lack of lack of a jacket as sudden winds came from nowhere, almost knocking him off balance as the sky was overrun by a heard of grey clouds. Just another reason to wish practice hadn't been cancelled, he thought as he ran head first into the oncoming wind in hopes of getting home before the rain fell from above.

* * *

His luck sucked, Takato decided as he dropped into the old wheelie chair in the middle of his room, slumping down as he spun from side-to-side. He'd run home, making good time and avoiding the rain, only for the clouds to disperse as he reached his families bakery. Of course his mother had decided that as he no longer had practice there was nothing to stop him from finally cleaning his room seeing as the bakery was almost abandoned.

Running a hand through his hair, he chanced a glance over his shoulder out of his bedroom window; the sun had returned in full force, having scared away the clouds though the wind was still going strong. Somewhere out there someone was laughing at him, he knew it. Giving into the inevitable, he decided he might as well just get it over with. _The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish, _Takato thought to himself with a sigh, recalling his father's favourite saying when it came to getting him to do something he _really_ didn't want to do.

Pushing off of the armrests of his chair he figured he might as change out of his uniform before starting, pulling off his shirt and throwing it back onto his wheelie chair as headed for his closet in hopes of finding something clean. He got half way through pulling on his worn, baggy black jeans, a fresh pale blue t-shirt still only half way on when an ear splitting screech that cut the silence so suddenly Takato went flailing to the floor in a mad attempt to cover his ears, landing with loud _thud _and a long drawn out groan.

"Nuts," Takato cursed in a murmur, his head finally popping out of his t-shirt as the screech trailed off into a dull buzzing noise. Rolling onto his side before quickly clambering to his feet, hoisting his jeans back up and securing them around his waist with his belt before dusting himself off. "The heck was that anyway?" he wondered aloud, rubbing at the back of his where it kissed the floor.

"Takato, I sent you up there to clean your room, not make a bigger mess," his mother's voice rang out from down in the bakery, and he instinctively cringed as the mental image of his mother reprimanding him appeared in his head. Some things never changed and even at seventeen, Takato knew that that the image of his mother reprimanding him would forever haunt him when he got into trouble.

"Sorry, mom," Takato called back, "I just dropped something I was moving, I swear I'm cleaning!" he decided to take her silence as her acceptance of his answer, so he set about trying to find the source of the noise.

Grabbing his favourite sleeveless white hoodie, the zip-up one with the slight collar, of the end of his bed, he knelt down in front of his desk, trying figure out which draw the buzzing was coming from. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be the bottom one and the brunette pulled it open without much thought, only to find an old lunch box, some used note pads and a bunch of damaged deck boxes alongside a _lot_ of dust. He blinked, realising the buzzing was coming from inside the old launch box - but there wasn't anything in there except old Digimon cards and his goggles.

Apart form his _D-Arc_.

Snatching the box up Takato wasted no time in emptying the contents all over his cluttered bedroom floor. It was stupid, he knew, but he couldn't help the excitement from building inside of him as soon as he worked out what the source of the noise from earlier was. He almost punched the air when he saw he was right; sitting on a pile of his old Digimon cards and goggles was his D-Arc, screen full of static and more active than it had been in years.

_But why now...? Why is it suddenly working after so long? _Unless... Guilmon was coming back.

He couldn't think of any other reason why it would just start working again after so many years of inactivity. _Guilmon...! _Reaching out, he tried to pick his D-Arc up, but all he got for his trouble was a nasty shock, reeling back he collided with his desk, the draw handles digging into his back as things that had been teetering on the edge went tumbling to the floor with a crash.

"I really gotta stop doing that..." Takato groaned, trying his nurse his sore back.

"_Takato_!"

"Sorry, mom," Kazu was right, his mother did have super hearing, "I tripped!" Hoping the answer would satisfy her, Takato looked back towards his D-Arc, engulfed in white light and beeping wildly. "I hope it's supposed to be doing that," Takato murmured, the last thing he needed was for it to break right after it started working again. Kneeling over the device which seemed to be changing shape before his very eyes he remembered how his card reader had once done the exact same thing all those years ago.

In the end the entire transformation had taken all of a few seconds and where Takato's D-Arc had once been sat the most underwhelming thing he'd ever seen.

His Digivice had become some strange hybrid between a wrist watch and a small touch phone: a white rectangle with a large screen, with the left side expanded outwards into a curved shape so there was room for a few buttons that were laid out akin to his old D-Arc with a few extras and an adjustable red Velcro strap so he could wear it on his wrist. Tentatively, he picked it up so he could have a closer look. The device still had a thin slot of slashing cards, though it was on the front for some reason and instead the flat side had a slot of a stylus and what looked liked ports for inserting some kind of external chip or plug-in. The underside had the stylised D symbol that the Blue Cards used to have.

"Who designed this thing?" Takato asked no one, but quickly flipped the thing right way up when the Digivice beeped again, the words: _Upgrade Complete_ on the screen. Then with another beep, the thing began projecting a image much like his D-Arc used to do, showing the one thing he'd hoped more than anything to see. A profile on Guilmon, and underneath the red saurian's image was another message that read: _Digimon Partner. __Status: re-materialization imminent_.

The update quickly flickered out of existence before the compass feature from the D-arc came to life in its place, though it was far more advance than Takato remembered. There was a detailed map of Tokyo in its entirety and his location was marked with a flashing dot, with a blue arrow above pointing in the direction he needed go and he could use buttons on the left side to zoom in and out and make the map as large as he wanted, even making it to scale.

_This is it, _he thought, brushing aside some of the cards that lay atop his goggles so he could pick them up. _Guilmon's finally coming back... _he looked back and forth between the dusty old goggles in his hand and his bedroom door.

What was he supposed to do in this situation?

How would his parents respond? He knew his parents would never refuse him keeping Guilmon but what about his life as a Tamer? Would they approve, and let him continue were he'd left of? No, of course not. The would never allow it despite knowing it was something he had to do.

It was a conversation they'd all had not long after the D-Reaper's defeat. Although his father had championed his decision to go to the Digital World, saying Takato was growing up and needed to make his own choices, both he and his mother had agreed that the D-Reaper was the end of it. They had stated that if Guilmon ever returned he was more than welcome in their home but they had explicitly forbidden him from resuming his life as a Tamer, not wanting to see their son risk his life again. He'd done his part, it was time for someone else to take over the good fight his father had said with foreign finality.

Takato decided there was only one path he could take. Hurriedly pulling on his new Digivice, he strapped it around his left wrist after taking off his watch before grabbing one of the old deck boxes from his desk drawer. Picking up an assortment of random cards and stuffing them into an old deck box that he attached to his belt. Pulling his hoodie on, he pushed the sleeves of t-shirt up to his elbow and headed for his bedroom window.

It took him a moment but he stopped, realising something was still missing. Looking back over his shoulder, he spotted his old goggles, which in his rush he'd placed on his desk. Without even thinking twice about it, he snatched them off the desk and put them back on over his headband: back where they belonged. He hadn't felt so complete in a long time and he was ready for anything either world could throw at him.

For once he was in luck, his father's delivery van was parked just bellow his window. His parents would most likely murder him for this later, or rather his mother would, but he could worry about that when the time came. Grabbing his phone off of his desk and slipping it into his back pocket he slipped out of his window and onto the ledge before shutting the window behind him, hoping no one saw him.

_This is monumentally stupid, y'know that right?_ A voice in the back of his mind said, then again even Takato didn't need a voice in his head to tell him how stupid this was but he was desperate, and desperate people did do stupid things, that much was proven fact when it came to the human race.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the ledge and dropped down onto the roof of his father's delivery van.

It wasn't a large fall by any stretch of imagination but boy-how did it make one hell of a bang when he landed. Wincing, he rolled off of the roof as quickly as he could, looking back and forth madly to try and see if anyone had spotted him in his escape. No one had. Sighing in relief, Takato almost collapsed against the side of the van facing away from the bakery, heart in his throat. His mother was defiantly going to murder him. Still, he hadn't been caught yet, which was strange in and of itself. _My luck is never this good, what's going?_

"And just where do you think you're going, huh?" Why'd he ask again?

Leaning out around the open doors at the back of the van was a young woman in her early-to-mid twenties. Her usually wavy caramel hair was pulled up into a messy bun at the back of her head, honey eyes glittered with mischief as she grinned at him, clearly giddy about the fact that Takato was up to something he clearly shouldn't be. Only half a head shorter than Takato she was actually much taller than the average woman her age and though she was covered in dough and dressed in a baggy work sweater and old jeans that weren't faltering in the least she he was still, admittedly, very beautiful young woman.

Bubbly and full of good will, Takato wouldn't deny the young woman was a lot of fun under normal circumstances, when she wasn't teasing him relentlessly. She was best friends with his eldest cousin and he suspected perhaps a little more than friends with his basketball coach, if how outrageously they flirted whenever he stopped by the bakery to visit her was anything to go by. Originally his father had only agreed to let her help out in the bakery as work experience because his cousin had such wonderful things to say about her best friend (the begging might have helped too) and she needed a way to put herself through culinary school. Having not long graduated she was still at the bakery for the time being, until a better opportunity arose. Though, when the time finally did come for her to move on, he wasn't sure his parents would be willing to let her go easily.

"Eh, hey!" Takato tried weakly, adding a wave and putting on his best 'I'm totally innocent' smile.

"Of all people, Takato, I would've _never_ expected this from you," she was playing with him, but still he couldn't help but panic, every moment he stood talking to her was another that his mother could come outside to check on them and catch him. It must've been all over his face because his parent's assistant stepped out fully from behind the van, folding her arms over her chest. "Takato, just what _are_ you doing?"

"Listen, please, I need to go," Takato said, begging with her, "I know this must look bad, but this is important, I swear. As soon as I finish doing what I need to do I'll come straight back and accept whatever punishment my parents have for me. Please, I _need_ to do this."

For one long minute there was only silence between them as they stared back at one another, his father's apprentice giving him a long, appraising look as she tried to measure the sincerity of his words. But in the end, she gave a small nod after taking a long glance at the new Digivice around Takato's left wrist, a flash of recognition flashing across her face.

"I'll give you five minutes, then I'll tip of you mother to the fact you're gone," she agreed, turning away before adding over her shoulder; "Hope it goes well, Takato." She smiled at him, offering him a victory-V as a show of support.

"Thanks, I owe you one, Mimi!" Takato called, pushing off the van and dashing off down the street in the direction the compass was pointing him, and in the distance he could hear his father's apprentice shout back: "Damn right you do!" All he could do was smile as he tore around the corner at the end of the street.

_I'm coming Guilmon..._

* * *

_Of all places... _Takato thought as he ran through Shinjuku Central Park, turning up another foot path and running like his life depended on it. He wasn't paying much attention to the map as he'd already worked out where Guilmon was going to Biomerge on his own as seeing which way the arrow was leading him.

After running for what felt like forever, he skidded to a halt, a large grin on his face. He couldn't help but find it funny that of all the places in the world for Guilmon to return it would be the old children's play park where Takato had first found the Blue Card that had started it all. The place hadn't changed at all, well, everything was a little on the used side and there was the odd bit of graffiti on the old dinosaur, the clock now broken but otherwise nothing had changed.

A swift crack made Takato look up, the dark grey clouds had returned in force to dwell over head and his phone was going wild in his back pocket - his mother most likely. The loud rumble of thunder split the air before a flash of lightning followed and the goggle-head had to throw his arms up in front of his face as pink mist exploded out from the dinosaur clock. Grateful he remembered everything from his time as a Tamer so thoroughly, he pulled his goggles down over his eyes as the mist swam out in every direction and carried on into the centre of the old park.

This was it.

It took a minute or two but Takato was finally able to spot something red in the mist as things cleared up a little. The old dinosaur clock had been _melted_, a smoking waste left in its place as Takato heard something padding around nearby as his Digivice gave another beep. Looking down to see what was going on, the Tamer found that Guilmon's profile was once again being projected though under it was a loading bar, and the image of the old Guilmon shattered into dozens of tiny pixels, replaced by two words: updating profile.

Takato never had much time to question the whole as a deep growl echoed out of the mist and he spun around to find a few feet in front of him was Guilmon. Except it wasn't Guilmon, at least not the one he remembered.

This new Guilmon was somehow slimier than the old one, lithe and built for speed rather than bulky and muscular like originally designed, taller too (Takato guessed the saurian would match him in height it he stood upright properly). His claws also seemed less paw-like and more like those of an actual velociraptor, predators claws, his feet had also changed to match, even gaining the signature curve claw toe. His body marking had also been altered, and had become more pronounced like his battle-like ears. But out of all the changes that shocked Takato, it was Guilmon's golden eyes, cold and bestial, narrowed in anger: feral.

"Guilmon, it's me; it's _Takato_." Gulping, the goggle-headed Tamer peddled backwards when Guilmon snarled at him, not hint of recognition present, flames frothing at the mouth. _Awww... nuts! Not this again! _He knew what was about to happen all to well.

"Pyro Sphere!"

* * *

**End Notes:** I hadn't planned for this chapter to be a weird parallel of the first episode of _Tamers_, that's just what it developed into as I worked on it and going forward I thought it worked so why not? Homages and mythology gags ho!

Things are more jaded than is the norm as I wanted to approach the return of the Digimon from a different angle. Something I loved about _Tamers_ was how it took the core trio time to come together as a team and I've admittedly hit the reset button which will result in a similar period learning to work together again through the first few chapters as the Tamers adjust to the changes they've all gone through over the years whilst working through lots of shiny new baggage.

As far as names go, I'll be using what I like best across the board; some Digimon and human characters will use their Japanese names whilst others will use their English and in a few cases I've used both: one example is I've gone with Jenrya Wong for Henry, simply because Jenrya sounds better given he's half Chinese but I like Wong better than Lee.

Finally I have altered/updated the design of a few Digimon. Some will get in story explanations whilst others won't, I hope this isn't a big issue seeing as Digimon have received canonical visual updates over the years but primarily it's because I want to give the Digimon a feeling of development and individuality, that every Digimon can develop unique quirks in their appearance and letting them grow with the Tamers in more ways.

Now that the needlessly long author note is done I say: until next chapter, don't forget to be awesome, people. Peace out.


	2. Back In Black

I'll admit I wasn't expecting that kind of response at all, you guys are beyond awesome! New chapter, ho!

* * *

_**Degrees of Succession**_

* * *

**II**

* * *

_Yes I am  
Let loose from the noose  
That's kept me hanging about  
I keep looking at the sky cause it's gettin' me high  
Forget the hearse cause I'll never die  
I got nine lives cat's eyes  
Using every one of them and runnin' wild  
Cause I'm back_

_Back In Black - _AC/DC

* * *

**July Seventeenth**

* * *

**Takato Matsuki**

* * *

Takato didn't need to think twice, throwing himself to one side before Guilmon's attack could hit him in the face. Tumbling across the tarmac the brown haired Tamer could hear his Partner give a confused snarl as the pink mist began to dissipate and the Rookie was left spinning around wildly in an attempt to figure out where he was. Guilmon must not have realised what was happening and attacked wildly in panic, his feral side not letting him think beyond a pre-emptive offensive against whatever else was in the mist.

Rolling onto his back, Takato scrambled backwards slightly as Guilmon's eyes locked onto his own. Gulping, he could only watch on as his Digimon took a step towards him, his body refusing to move despite the screams from his brain to get up and run for all he was worth. It took all of a few seconds for Guilmon to reach him, standing over the goggle wearing teen and filling his view, casting him into shadow.

His mind was into total disarray, dozens of thoughts of what was about to happen playing out simultaneously in his head but Takato couldn't have predicted what Guilmon would actually do. He _sniffed_ him. Takato could only blink in confusion, watching dumbfounded as Guilmon bumped his snout against his forehead before tilting his head to side like a curious puppy, as if not sure why he was so afraid.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Takato pulled his goggles back up and stared back at his Digimon with wide eyes. The large red saurian had lost all signs of hostility, bat-like ears drooping sadly at the brown haired teen's lack of real reaction. _Talk about déjà vu… _he thought before reaching out to give the Digimon a brief pat on the head.

"Guilmon…" he murmured softly, Takato's voice cracking as the red saurian nuzzled into his touch, tail wagging wildly like an excited puppy when the Tamer began to scratch behind one bat-like ear. The large Rookie just looked at him with large golden eyes that brimmed with familiarity and joy.

"Takato?" Guilmon asked in that childish whine he remembered so well, plopping down onto his rear so he could just stare at the Tamer and for one long moment Takato could only stare back, hand flopping back to his side.

"Guilmon!" Takato laughed as he lunged forward, flinging his arms around his Partner's neck and embracing the large red saurian in hug five years in the making as he choked back a sob of joy.

"Takato!"

"I've missed you boy…" Takato murmured, still refusing to pull away from his Partner as he managed to bring up one hand to wipe the tears away with the back of his hand.

"I've missed you too," Guilmon grinned at him when Takato finally pulled away from his friend. Before the conversation could go any further there was a loud grumble that cut the air like a gunshot, leaving both Tamer and Digimon staring at one another before the red Rookie finally burst into nervous laughter, looking as to hide his sheepish grin. "Did you bring any bread?"

Takato just blinked before letting out a bark as he almost toppled over sideways from laughing so hard, clutching his sides whilst Guilmon tried his hardest to work out just what exactly was so funny about the entire situation. Even after so many years apart, after so many different changes some things still stayed the same.

"Now this is just touching; a boy and his Digimon, together again after so long." Takato jerked around, panicking when he realised his enter reunion with Guilmon had been witnessed by someone else.

Across the park a man in his mid-twenties sat on a nearby bench, giving a slight wave with one hand. The man was dressed in an expensive, top-of-the-range three piece black suit and equally expensive white shirt whilst a silk orange tie flapped about in the wind. For some odd reason Takato didn't understand the man was wearing a pair of fingerless biker gloves and two belts, a long chain hanging from one and tucked into his pocket with a black fedora with orange band was pulled down over his eyes.

It really shouldn't have surprised him, Takato told himself as he remembered that the park was open to the public twenty fours a day – it would've been more unlikely for someone not to see him and Guilmon. What made him nervous though was that this man, all smirks and casually leaning into the bench, arms outstretched and utterly relaxed not only knew _what_ Guilmon was but what seemed to know exactly what was going on at that moment.

Guilmon likewise seemed put on edge by the man and his sudden appearance, hackles rising and eyes narrowing as he let off a low growl. Still, Takato knew no matter how creepy or out of place the man seemed he couldn't just let his Partner go around attacking random people and put a hand on top of Guilmon's head in attempt to give him a calming pat. It seemed to work, the Rookie's growls all but fading but the feral look never left his eyes as he continued to stare unblinking at the new arrival.

"Who are you?" Takato asked whilst doing his best to sound confident – something he just couldn't bring to feel despite how everything looked advantageous for him sound things go south. However the man on the bench just seemed so at ease and confident that the young Tamer couldn't help but wonder if he had some sort of trump card over him– the young brunette knew better than to take everything at face value these days.

This man radiated power and Takato certainly didn't want to get on his bad side if he could avoid it.

The man shook his head after a tense moment, pushing the brim of his hat out of his face with one finger, mismatched eyes, one a deep brown and the other blood red as well as short, spiky white hair stared across the distance at him and the young Tamer could feel a chill run down his spine. _His eyes are so cold…_

"The _real_ question is who are you?" The man in the suit replied, smirking at Takato's perplexed expression.

"I'm Takato Matsuki…"

"That you are!" The man laughed bringing his hands up to give a mocking clap, "Ask a stupid question and get a stupid answer, I suppose. Never mind that now though, you'll figure out what I meant later. For now though I'm just here to talk,"

"Talk about what? You're not making any sense," Takato was beyond confused by this man and his sudden appearance. _How does he know what Guilmon is for a start… he can't be a Tamer can he? _He was far too old to be a Tamer; then again some would probably say the same about him when it came to being a Tamer now. "Do you want something from me?"

"Everybody wants something, kid," Fancy Suit; Takato decided there was nothing else to call him for the time being, said – like he was trying to be as cryptic as humanly possible. "Personally; I'm just interested in sitting back and watching how the next few days play out, should be good. I mean your reaction to it all is going to be _gold_. But enough about me, what about you, what do _you_ want, Takato Matsuki?

"I mean, you've got the Digimon back after five years, so what's next?" Fancy Suit added as he scratched his chin absent-mindedly. "Put the band back together? Though I suppose you won't have to hard to pull that one off… is it finding out the truth about your forerunners or perhaps maybe you should be getting ready for the trouble that's a brewing."

"Forerunners…? _What_?" Takato liked to think he was a patient person, he had to be to put up with Kazu, but this guy was really starting to annoy him. _He's trying to work me up, just stay calm; _he'd suffered enough bullies over the years to know that much – this guy was feeding him little bits and pieces to bait him in, grab his attention.

"C'mon, you're seriously not going to stand there and tell me you thought you and your little rabble of friends were the first ever Tamers? …I mean, _seriously_?" Takato blinked, not quite sure how to take the accusation because the truth was he'd honestly never really thought about it. How could they have not been the first?

_The government covered it up once before, _he conceded to himself, but Takato still didn't understand how the world could've hidden Tamers before him and his friends if there really were others out there. Surely it wouldn't take long for something huge long to come along and reduce a few city blocks to rubble and the reveal the secret to the world. _They managed to lie about the D-Reaper so who knows how many _accidents_ over the years have actually been a Digimon attack…? What's to stop Digimon appearing in some other county? I mean if the Japanese government covered it up why not somewhere else? _

"It's sad: just how ignorant and arrogant you are. Then again I guess everyone's a little self-involved at your age and who can blame you? You teenagers think the entire world is out to get you." Fancy Suit mocked as he shook his head before pulling open his jacket and reaching for something inside – a plain looking white envelope. "Here, it's dangerous to go alone: take this,"

"Huh …?" Takato asked as he took the envelope after a moment of hesitation. Taking a step back when he had his hands on it the young Tamer gave the envelope a quick once over, there was no name or address nor was it even properly sealed.

"That my friend is the start of the breadcrumb trail," Fancy Suit said as he stood up from the bench, dusting himself off before pulling a pair of tinted orange aviator sunglasses out of his breast pocket. "If you want answers then down the rabbit hole you'll go; you can bet on her to be honest with you at the very least. That is if the Olympians don't wipe you off the map before you can have a nice long chat that is." _Olympians…? What is this guy talking about? _

Before Takato could demand an answer his Digivice gave a a loud beep, or at least he'd thought it was his Digivice but Fancy Suit quickly pushed up his jacket's left sleeve to reveal he was wearing a red and black version of Takato's Digivice. "Well, duty calls. Best get following those breadcrumbs, Matsuki – just because you've got Guilmon back doesn't mean the rest of your generation has been reunited with their Partners and the Olympians won't hesitate to destroy them regardless of the fact. You've got five years of rust to shake off and little time to do it in. Best of lucky with that,"

"Just who are you…?" Takato asked as Fancy Suit slipped on his sunglasses as the sky rumbled with the sound of thunder and flash of lighting cut the sky as the first drops of rain fell from above, with more and more crashing down by the second.

"I'm someone who intends to win the game we're all fated to play out over the next few weeks." Fancy Suit said, deadly serious as he stared over his glasses at Takato in stark contrast to his earlier casualness. "You best not let me down, Matsuki. I've got big plans for you after all. Ta-ta for now," he added with a large smirk, pushing his glasses back up his nose before walking off into the downpour, whistling a jaunty little tune.

"What the heck just happened…?" Takato asked, turning to look at Guilmon as though he would somehow understand the situation better than he had.

"Evil," Guilmon hissed, still staring in the direction Fancy Suit had vanished. "I could feel it Takato; that man is evil." _Maybe, _Takato agreed as he lifted up the envelope to have one last look at it before stuffing it into the back pocket of his jeans, _but he's given me the only lead I have right now. _Fancy Suit did have him in a corner; if he wanted answers then he was obviously going to have to play along with whatever the man's plans where for the time being.

"Come on, Guilmon. Let's go home," Guilmon turned to look back at him, all toothy grins as he threw his claws into the air, cheering about going home to get some bread at long last. Despite it all: Guilmon's changes, Fancy Suit and the cryptic conversation, thoughts of the other Tamers and their partners returning with questions on who these Olympians and forerunners where Takato couldn't help himself when he laughed at Guilmon's carefree attitude at the mere thought of filling his belly with freshly baked bread.

"Guilmon beard!" the Rookie cried before charging off in the direction of the Matsuki Family Bakery like he'd never been gone, leaving Takato to scramble after him, almost slipping in a large puddle as he attempted to catch up with his runaway Partner.

"Guilmon wait up!" _It's good to know some things will never change… _the brown haired Tamer thought with a laugh, feeling as though he was twelve again and like he didn't have a care in the world. Takato was so caught up in the moment that he didn't even spare a moment to think about the conversation that awaited him when he finally got home.

* * *

The fact he had to run after Guilmon the entire way whilst wanting to get out of the rain fast as possible ensured Takato made it home surprisingly fast. Thankfully the sudden turn in the weather seemed to have prompted a lot of people to vacate the streets in favour of staying dry, meaning Tamer and Digimon had gone seemingly unnoticed during the whole mad dash home for shelter and food.

It really shouldn't have surprised him when he walked in through the back door to the bakery, soaked to the bone, that he quickly had to get to work if he wanted to stop Guilmon from devouring everything in sight, holding onto the red Rookie as though his life depended on it: which it very well might have at that point depending on his mother's mood. "Guilmon, no! That's not for you!" Takato wheezed out as he gave Guilmon one final tug away and both of them slipped on the wet floor and went tumbling into the rack of tins and pan that were lined up to be washed after dinner.

Guilmon gave a little moan of disappointment, rubbing at a spot on his head where a pan had stuck whilst he sat atop a struggling Takato who lay amidst a sea of dirty dishes. Footsteps weren't far off and in a moment his mother stood in the doorway, arms folded over her chest whilst his father peeked around the door, curious as to what had made the entire commotion, both still dressed in their aprons and dirty work clothes.

"Well," his mother began in that stern tone of voice that told him he was in serious trouble but she couldn't bring herself to be properly cross with him, "I guess this explains where you ran off to when you were supposed to be cleaning your room." Forever the stern one of his parents, she really didn't look to be pushing forty five, her signature frown softened at the sight of Guilmon as she gave her temples a brief message, trying to hide her slight smile.

"Hello!" Guilmon chirped, waving one claw in greeting before finally clambering off of Takato, who could only cough and wheeze as he finally felt the sweet relief of air. _Well, it doesn't seem like he's gotten any lighter these past few years even if he looks it… _the brunette thought as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing at the back of his head as he made eye contact with his parents, his father now leaning against the door frame in good natured bemusement.

"At least I have a good excuse this time, right?" His father laughed, shaking his head before he pushed away from the door frame and pulled off his apron, shouting about how dinner would be ready soon. His mother pursed her lips, but said nothing, instead she gestured with one hand and pointed up the stairs, hint clear: get changed out of those wet clothes and then we'll discuss this.

Takato nodded, nervously before scampering up the stairs, pulling off his soaked clothes as he went, wringing them out before jumping into the upstairs shower to warm himself through before putting on dry clothes. His poor hoodie was going to take forever to dry.

It took him all of ten minutes to shower and get changed into a clean t-shirt and shorts before trudging back down the stairs to the conversation he knew awaited him. He walked into the family kitchen to find his mother was already seated at the table, his father having started to dish up whilst Guilmon was already working his way through a pile of day old bread his father had given him seeing as none of it was fight to sell any more.

Takato took his usual seat opposite his parents, accepting the bowl of rice his mother offered him without as much as a single word, though he did nod his thanks. His parent didn't say anything either, instead everyone ate in silence as nobody really knew how they were supposed to start a conversation like the one they all needed to have – it wasn't like there were many other parents they could ask for advice on the topic.

In the end it took Guilmon walking over to the table, sitting down next to his Tamer and dropping his head into Takato's lap that the boy's father finally found his voice; "Why didn't you just tell us what was going on, Takato? We did say Guilmon would always be welcome here, didn't we?"

Takato looked down at the bottom of his bowl, pushing around what was left of his rice with his chopsticks. There was no anger, disapproval or judgement in his father's voice, only a simple curiosity even if his face wasn't quite as good at hiding his hurt; his son had betrayed his trust after all. It was only natural his parents would be upset and whilst the young Tamer admittedly felt guilty over sneaking out he didn't regret it for a second because he'd ultimately made the right decision: who knew what could have happened if he hadn't been there in time to meet Guilmon as soon as he materialized back into the human world?

"You did, but you both know what Guilmon coming back means," Takato looked up in time to see his parents exchange looks of understanding. "Admit it; part of you only said what you did because neither of you actually thought Guilmon would ever come back after Hypnos was shut down by the government."

His parents didn't blink at his accusation, though they did both nod in the end, maybe a little surprised at their son's perception of the situation. "I guess we'd be lairs if we argued that point," his mother said as she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes for a moment, his father placing on of his own hands on top of hers before they both swapped a sad look, turning back to him. "Please believe us when we say we're happy for you that Guilmon finally did come back after all these years. _We're_ happy he's back," he _is_ a part of the family, was the unsaid message and Takato managed a smile for his mother, which she returned.

Takato gave Guilmon another scratch behind the ears as his father took over the speaking role; "But you have to understand how difficult it was for us the first time around, son. This isn't just about our worries about you getting yourself hurt or worse any more, there's a lot more to it than that. Takato you're at that age when you need to be thinking about your future," his stomach churned at that comment and Takato found his guilt intensifying.

His family was by no means well off, yes the bakery kept everyone feed and clothed: they earned enough to get by and afford the occasional luxury but when it came to the idea of sending Takato to university things got a little scary where money was concerned. His grades weren't awful, but by no means was he the brightest guy out there and he had better odds on learning to fly than he did getting an academic scholarship.

At the start of the school year Coach Takashi had made it clear to his parents he was sure Takato could go far on a good athletic scholarship, Takato didn't know if that was the man being nice or he was actually a lot better player than he gave himself credit for, but according to the blond it would only happen if the young Tamer continued to apply himself to the team and give it everything he had. Getting a scholarship would really take a lot of pressure of his parents but what if a wild Digimon injured him and he was left unable to play? Would he even have time to play if he went back to being a Tamer?

His parents had always made it clear they thought he could really do something with his life despite his quirks and they wanted so much more for him than just growing up and taking over the bakery and scrape by in life as they had, his parents had wanted to be bakers but it had never been Takato's dream. Takato himself wanted to make something of himself to not only make his parents proud but pay them back for everything they'd done for him but he couldn't do that as a Tamer, getting rid of hostile Digimon would keep people safe but it wouldn't actually put food on the table.

"I know you guys care and only want what's best for me but I can't walk away from this," Takato said after a long pause in which his parents had just let him think. Pulling off his goggles the young brunette stared down at the lenses, eyeing his own reflection. "The first time I received my Digivice and Guilmon it was for a reason: to stop the D-Reaper. I need to believe that he's come back to me now for a reason as well. I've been given an important responsibility and I can't just abandon it, you both taught me better than that."

"We understand," Takato blinked in surprise, looking up to see his mother smile at him, "truth be told I'd be more surprised if you didn't fight for this. You never asked for this duty yet you've accepted it not once but twice now without a second thought despite all the risks it poses. Your coach is right Takato; you are a natural born leader – people can't help but put their trust in you to do what's right, you have the kind of spirit that inspires others."

"I wouldn't go that far…" Takato chuckled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck in embarrassment whilst his mother rolled her eyes, muttering about how he was too much like his father for his own good, something which his old man just laughed at whilst he too rubbed at the back of his neck. "I know this isn't easy for you guys, and I want you to understand that –"

"No," his father cut him off, holding up a hand, "you're right this isn't easy for us but this is what you want and we'd be rather terrible parents if we didn't stand behind you in this decision even if we don't agree with it or understand because in the end there's nothing we can do to stop you from being a Tamer if that's what you really want."

"That being said, we do have some conditions," his mother added, and Takato went from elated and surprised to worried and groaning in two seconds flat. "You need to keep applying yourself in school and do your best to keep up your work with the basketball team. You'll need to learn to juggle it all, but summer is just around the corner and it'll give you some time to get used to having Guilmon back whilst doing things like helping us in the bakery and keeping up with your studies."

"Thank you," Takato said, Guilmon also chirping up with a thanks of his own as he grinned at the older Matsuki's, grins which they returned - if not as enthusiastically. "I know this isn't what you want for me, but I hope in time you guys can support me in-"

"Takato, you're our son, you'll have our support in whatever it is you choose to do." His father cut him off, ending the conversation there and then. Takato just blinked, completely unsure of what else to say so he just went back to his dinner.

"Does this mean I'm not grounded?" Takato asked when he finally finished his dinner, not sure if it would be pushing his luck to do so but his mouth was a few steps ahead of his brain. Still, asking couldn't make it any worse at this point and he needed to know.

"Given the circumstances, not this time, no." Takato silently cheered, having dodged the bullet on this occasion, but his mother cut his celebration short by adding; "You still have a room to clean before you go to bed, Guilmon or no." A loud thud echoed through the kitchen as Takato slumped forward and banged his head against the table, moaning in defeat. "You really are your father's son," his mother noted with a slight laugh whilst his father gave an innocent whistle in the background as he began to clear the table of dirty dishes.

* * *

Sighing, Takato lay awake in bed as sleep refused him. His mind just didn't know how to switch off as he stared up at the ceiling; Guilmon's rasping snores coming from down the end of his bed where the Rookie was curled up like a giant cat before a large fire, dreaming of bread if his mutterings were any indication. The conversation with his parents during dinner had actually gone better than expected – not only had he avoided being grounded but his parents had, begrudgingly, acknowledged there was little they could do to stop him if being a Tamer if his heart was truly set on it.

It hadn't gotten him out of cleaning his room though. In the end it really hadn't taken him as long as he'd thought it would, but he wasn't left with much time to do anything else when he remember he had work that was due the next day at school. So the young Tamer went to town on his homework, his messy handwriting would give his teachers a good challenge when he handed it in, but he wanted to get it all done before going to bed.

In the end he'd managed his tasks, with his room clean and homework done he headed for bed. He and Guilmon talked a little whilst he'd gotten ready for bed, the red Digimon's word still bugged him now as he lay awake; "Takato, did you Digivolve?" At the time he'd just about fallen about the floor laughing at the absurdity of the question. The very idea of trying to explain the concept of puberty and growing up to the childish Digimon had Takato in tears.

He'd done his best to appease the Rookie's curiosity and had said: "I grew up, Guilmon; it's something all humans do at my age. It's kind of like Digivolving over a long period of time were lots of little things change but it's not like I've increased in level or something like."

"So does that mean I've grown up, too?" Takato had been left unable to answer his Digimon, stunned at the question. In all honesty Takato didn't even know if a Digimon could grow up in the same way as a human. He didn't even know they could change in the way Guilmon had - but had his Partner grown up or had something more sinister occurred during the five years he'd been in the Digital World?

"Guilmon, what exactly happened to you to bring on these changes?" Takato had asked as he sat down on his bed in nothing but his sleeping shorts. Guilmon had just shrugged, unsure himself as he replied with a simple: "I don't remember,"

Takato had just shaken his head in response, thinking it typical of Guilmon to completely forget something so important. The more he thought about it though as he'd lay awake, unable to sleep, the more the fact began to worry him – just what exactly had Guilmon gone through in the last five years and where were the other Partner Digimon like Terriermon and Renamon? In hindsight it was probably one the first things he should've asked but he was just so caught up in everything that was going on that a lot of things that should've hit him earlier were only doing so now.

Tomorrow was another day though as he could afford to wait a few more hours, he'd let Guilmon rest. Any questions that were bugging him could wait until the morning. Or, at least, the ones only Guilmon could answer could wait.

The thing that was really eating at him was the strange man from the park who's letter he'd still not opened, the envelope sat crumpled on the corner of his desk, calling out to him. Takato really didn't want to open it because doing so would be playing into the man's plans, whatever they were, and given his own misgivings about the guy and Guilmon's reaction that was the last thing he wanted to do. Still, the man had fed him just enough to get him curious and he needed some answers.

Groaning, Takato rolled over and buried his face in his pillow – cursing his over active imagination as dozens of different scenarios flooded his mind as he thought over everything Fancy Suit had said to him. _Were we really not the first Tamers…? But if these forerunners do exist why didn't help when the D-Reaper attacked?_ Maybe they couldn't, part of him pointed out seeing as it was rather obvious – just because others came before didn't mean they were still Tamers to this day; maybe they themselves had lost their Partners long before the D-reaper ever appeared.

He just kept coming back to the fact that Tamers before he and his friends would've surely been discovered sooner or later, just as they had. _Unless it's like the show… _Takato thought, rolling onto his back again before clambering into a sitting position, _maybe the show has some basis in reality; if there were other Tamers there's nothing to say their adventure wasn't entirely in the Digital World. Ryo somehow got in on his own long before we did, who says he was the first to do it?_

In that moment he gave in, getting out of bed and walking over to his desk, dropping into his wheelie chair as he picked up the envelope. All that was inside was a single sheet of folded paper with all two pieces of information on it: an address and the name of a website whilst under both was a simple four digit number: _1306_.

Spinning around his chair he faced his desk, quickly booting up his laptop as the need to know more drove him on. His laptop wasn't particularly top of the range though it wasn't utterly garbage so thankfully he didn't have to wait too long for the thing start up and let him begin he trek down the breadcrumb trail – as Fancy Suit had put it.

Clicking on the _Firefox_ short-cut, Takato decided the best thing to do was to check the address first using Google Map because sure as hell didn't know how else to find it. Of all places he hadn't suspected the address would be to an apartment building in Odaiba. _So the number must be to the apartment I need to __go to, _it made sense as he thought about it a little more, leaning back in his chair as he stared at the screen in front of him.

His father's elder sister lived in Odaiba and ran a flower shop whilst his uncle worked in Kyoto most of the year round whilst his eldest cousin, Mimi's best friend, lived all of twenty minutes away given she worked in Shinjuku and her circumstance made commuting to work every day difficult. It seemed so strange that this person who possibly had the answers he was looking for lived no further away than some of his extended family.

_If you want answers then down the rabbit hole you'll go; you can bet on her to be honest with you at the very least_… so whoever lived at this address was a woman, or at least he was looking for one. Maybe she could give him a good idea as to who Fancy Suit really was – or who these Olympians were. _Just because you've got Guilmon back doesn't mean the rest of your generation has been reunited with their Partners and the Olympians won't hesitate to destroy them regardless of the fact._

The idea troubled him; people had been caught up in Digimon attacks before, but never had any of their enemies outside of the D-Reaper intentionally gone after those who couldn't fight back, they were more interested in chasing after the Tamers or Calumon. Chancing a glance at his phone, he snatched it off his desk, rattling off a quick text to Kazu, he owed his friend too much to hide this from him and the beanie wearing boy needed to know his life might be in danger.

_Meet me at Guilmon's old shed before school, it's important. _Putting his phone down when he was satisfied with the message, Takato turned back to his laptop. His web browser was still open so he decided no further harm could come from looking at the website on the piece of paper though it did nothing to ease his troubled mind – if anything it made things worse. A page with no links or anything or the sort outside of a single, large digital clock with dark red numbers that was counting down to what he had no idea.

**17:00:00:53**

Rubbing the back of his head, Takato checked the clock on his laptop – it was July eighteenth, and the clock read _01:22_. Counting it off on his fingers, the younger Tamer realised that the clock would hit zero on August fourth at exactly _01:23_ in the morning but whatever happened when it did hit zero was something he didn't know. For all he knew it could be the count down to when the world ended or when the site went live.

Groaning, Takato slumped down in his chair as he rubbed his face with his hands, his opening the letter had done nothing as far as easing his thoughts, but he was just so tiered from thinking about it all so at least maybe he could rest for now. Turning off the computer, he pushed himself out of his chair and flopped down on top of his bed, his last thoughts before he closed his eyes were that tomorrow was another day.

* * *

**A/N:** Admittedly this is nothing more than a build up chapter but an important one nonetheless. The first and third scenes are of course plot important but Takato's conversation with his parents is really insightful when it comes to further establishing characters and showing off Takato's relationship with his parents and displaying a few of the drawbacks that would come with being a Tamer at Takato's age without the help of something like Hypnos around - I actually had a lot of fun writing the scene and hope to included a little more of Takato's parents in future if I get the chance, it's nice to show how close they are with their son and how important they are to him.

Next chapter shouldn't take as long as this one did, no promises though. Until next time, don't forget to be awesome, guys!


	3. Sick of Everyone

_**Degrees of Succession**_

* * *

**III**

* * *

_While looking for the answers, only questions come to mind  
'Cause I've been lost in circles, which seems now for quite some time  
And I don't know how I came here, even how I got this far  
All I can tell you is my fate is written in the black stars  
Well, what am I supposed to do?_

_Sick of Everyone - _Sum 41

* * *

**July Eighteenth**

* * *

**Takato Matsuki**

Takato's morning had not been a good one – and there was no sign that the day was going to get better any time in the near future. To start of the morning had been the monumental task of not only getting Guilmon out of the house before Mimi could see him, she'd shown up early as she usually did, but stopping the saurain from consuming everything in sight like a giant red vacuum. Thankfully his parents had managed to distract Mimi long enough for Takato to smuggle his partner out of the bakery without major incident and avoided the attention of any customers who had showed up for the opening and reduced the likely hood of being spotted as Tamer and Digimon headed for their old hideout.

Guilmon hadn't been exactly happy with the idea of having to hide out in his old shed again, something he'd made abundantly clear with his whining but the only other option was he was left inside of Takato's tiny bedroom all day long. Neither of them had been spotted far as Takato could tell and the area around the shed was still usually unused so Guilmon could at least have some space to wonder around in without fear of being discovered if he got restless.

"Takato; they filled up my hole…" Guilmon had bemoaned upon arrival at the shed, ears drooping he added; "Now I have to start digging all over again." Takato had laughed, praying his Partner wasn't serious as he rubbed the back of his head as he watched Guilmon sniff at the ground in attempt to decide where best to start or maybe looking for the location of the original hole but in the end Tamer had ordered the Rookie to not dig up the shed a second time – not that the red saurian would listen in all likely hood.

Whilst Guilmon's whining hadn't exactly been fun to listen to it was bearable as it was only a small sacrifice in the long run, but it was only a matter of time before Guilmon had wanted to know why they had to go back to the shed if he didn't need to stay there. "Are we meeting the others?" Guilmon had asked happily; tail wagging like an excited puppy as he started talking about seeing the others again whilst stuffing his face with a massive piece of bread he'd stolen from the bag food that was meant to last him all day; cheeks swelling up like a hamster's, eye wide with hope as he looked up at Takato.

The young Tamer could only shake his head, muttering out a weak; "Sort of," as he shrugged one shoulder. Confused, his partner had looked at him as though to demand a more in-depth explanation.

Takato hadn't told Guilmon about how things had fallen apart with the other Tamers – he just didn't know how to without crushing his friend's spirit. In the end he didn't have much choice as Guilmon had forced his hand by repeatedly asking the same simple question over and over again; "_Why_?"

"Listen, Guilmon, things are different now," Takato had tried to play it off and dodge the conversation altogether if he could though his luck had never been that good when it came to stuff like this. Discussing the implosion of the Shinjuku Tamers had not been on his to-do list when he woke up that morning and the brunette had no plans on adding it to the list. "Everyone's grown up and gone their separate ways: we don't talk anymore. Kazu's meeting us here but he's the only one."

"Why…?" Guilmon repeated as though the answer was simple; like the reason could be summed up in a single sentence but things were never that easy. Head tilting to one side the Digimon had stopped ramming bread down his throat for a moment to stare at Takato as if it would help him miraculously come up with a reasonable explanation. Takato had just made a sour face, irritated that Guilmon couldn't accept his earlier explanation and let the matter drop so they could move on.

"We're not friends now so just drop it, _okay_?" It'd stung to admit that, Takato couldn't lie to himself now hours later as he sat in class, but at the time he'd been to irritated to care much – he just wanted the conversation to _end_.

"_Why_?"

"Because we're _not_!" Takato had snapped, rounding on the inquisitive Digimon and Guilmon had actually recoiled in shock at the teen's outburst. "Guilmon, I… I just don't want to talk about this, okay?" The red Rookie gave a little nod, smiling weakly to try and hide that he was upset before silence reigned supreme. At the time the young Tamer had just been glad he was able to get Guilmon to stop talking about such a touchy subject but now all he felt was disgust over how he'd flown off the handle so easily.

_Damn it, _Takato though as he ran a hand through his hair (not even pretending to listen to his teacher as they began talking about some work the class was meant to do over the summer break), did he really have that little patience nowadays? No, that couldn't be it; he _did_ put up with Kazu on a daily basis. It'd only really hit him in that momentary outburst that whilst Guilmon had physically changed, mentally he was still as childlike as when he'd first been born and that bothered Takato. It hadn't been a huge deal five years ago as he'd related to Guilmon's inquisitiveness and naïve optimism about everything thing and everyone – but here here he was five years on: jaded by a world that had never spared a thought for him whilst Guilmon still managed to live in ignorant bliss, oblivious to just how cruel the world could really be.

Truthfully, Takato _envied_ Guilmon for that.

All of the Digimon had probably fought with everything they had to stay together whilst the Tamers had just stood and watched everything fall apart. They'd all sort of gravitated into smaller clusters and though Takato had struggled to keep them all together even he had eventually stopped trying and just let reality sink in and take its toll. They had all runaway from one another when things had gotten too hard, haunted by the memories they all shared and with no glue to hold them together; _he'd_ run away from Rika when things had gotten too hard, when things had changed between them and it had left him terrified.

Sighing, Takato slumped in his seat at the back of the classroom as the bell for the end of third period rung loudly across the classroom. The teacher bid them the best of luck, telling them to have a good summer but the goggle wearing Tamer didn't care – he could barely concentrate as it was without having to focus on his lessons as well. The teacher soon left and the class was left alone until their next teacher arrived and most turned to talk to one another during the wait. Kazu would usually almost instantly turn and talk to him about whatever nonsense was on his mind at the time but today, just like at the end of first and second period his friend's back remained firmly too him as the beanie wearing teen glared daggers at a mark on the blackboard.

His conversation with Kazu had somehow managed to go even worse than his one with Guilmon. Well, to call it a conversation was being nice, in reality Kazu had turned up like Takato had asked only to find Guilmon and suddenly loose his voice. Takato had done everything he could to offer his best friend some sort of explanation but it was difficult when he himself had no real answers, all he'd gotten out of the beanie wearing boy had been grunts and the odd stiff nod.

Takato had quickly run out of things to say, having blabbered on about Guilmon's confused state on arrival, Fancy Suit, Guilmon's reaction to said stranger, the letter and what was in it, mentions of their forerunners and the Olympians and even the weird website. Kazu had just nodded his head throughout before muttering, "Looks like I wasn't good enough after all," after which he turned and left without another word.

It was widely known that Kazu had a bad habit of being an attention seeker, and rarely through good means. What a lot of people didn't know was where the need for attention came from: ever since he was little Kazu had suffered heavily from an inferiority complex, one that came from being outclassed in every way possible by his younger brother and his father never failing to remind him of it. The pair had known each other their entire lives, their mother's being old friends from school, and Takato had never heard Kazu's father say _anything_ even remotely nice to him. It was ironic, Kazu wanted some positive attention and support from his father, to be loved like his brother, but the ways he'd spent so many years going about trying to get his father's attention had only helped to enforce the idea that his brother was the better son.

Takato to an extent had understood and sympathised, he'd always struggled to keep up with what he thought his parents standards were and worried over their opinion but unlike Kazu he had since grown out of it thanks to his time as a Tamer - it helped he had always been much closer to his parents due to being an only child.

The fact he could relate a little didn't mean Takato was going to let Kazu hide behind his inferiority complex this time - it annoyed him that his best friend could somehow turn this around him and make him feel like the bad guy because of the fact Guilmon had returned but Guardramon hadn't when Takato had never had any control over the situation. If it'd been up to the goggle wearing teen all the Digimon would have come back together as one but the real world didn't play like that. Even if Guardramon had come back and Guilmon hadn't he'd have the decency to try and at least pretend to look happy so as to support his friend.

Takato really couldn't help but feel that Kazu needed to get over himself and realise that whilst Guardramon might not have returned yet, Guilmon's arrival was proof that he would hopefully rejoin them soon. Well, it wasn't really but he needed to believe it as he wasn't sure what else would bring Kazu out of this funk any time in the near future.

Kazu's attitude wasn't even the end of it; someone was watching him.

Takato didn't know who or what it was, but he'd gotten rather good at being able to tell when he was being watched thanks to Renamon's bad habit of lurking out of sight and watching the Tamers from afar. He had his suspicions about who it could be, but the one that made the most sense brought him little comfrot: _The Olympians… _he frowned, not sure if he'd prefer that over the other possibility he'd come up with after some thought.

If someone really was watching him then they'd know that Guilmon had returned but Kazu was still vulnerable without his Partner. As much as his friend had him frustrated he'd never willing risk the taller boy's safety so the goggle wearing Tamer was trying to figure out just how he could get whoever was tailing him to come out of hiding without endangering anyone.

It was in that moment his Digivice decided to go off with full force, shrieking so loudly he almost went deaf. The entire classroom turned to look at him in alarm as a siren sounded from the device around his wrist, and in his surprise, being caught completely unaware, Takato had toppled off of his chair in panic and almost sending his desk flying into Kazu's back. Groaning, the brunette rolled onto his side and looked at his Digivice through blurry eyes, the back of his head stinging in pain.

_Category Two: Materialisation Imminent…? What the heck is that supposed to mean? _Takato moaned as he read the screen before clambering back to his feet just as Miss Asaji walked into the classroom. Acting on auto pilot Takato quickly rattled off an excuses about not feeling well, which wasn't entirely untrue thanks to the bump on his head, and quickly asked to go to the nurse.

Miss Asaji hadn't really given a response other than a rather befuddled nod of approval as Takato staggered from the classroom. _Looks like it's time to go to work, _he though, realising his mother was going to kill him if she found out he snuck off school grounds to deal with a wild Digimon during class – better that than have a few city blocks blown to Kingdom Come, he supposed.

* * *

Today _really_ wasn't a good day.

Takato had run at full speed to get to Shinjuku Central Park as fast as his legs could carry him, only to find that Guilmon was nowhere to be found – his Partner had wondered off on him _again_; so much for hoping that bad habit would have disappeared over their five years apart. Panicking, Takato had done the only thing that made sense: he headed for where his Digivice was saying the Digimon was going to emerge into the real world, assuming the red saurian would have sensed it coming and already headed off to meet it.

When he finally reached the park's picnic area, it testified to his theory that Guilmon had indeed sensed the arrival of a new Digimon and went on ahead. Or so he thought. Panting, Takato stumbled up one final hill to where Guilmon sat, his ears drooping sadly as he gazed out at the trashed benches and crater riddled grass, dirt thrown everywhere and a nearby cherry blossom tear had been uprooted whilst huge tracks littered the area.

"Guilmon you could have at least waited for me before fighting the wild Digimon," Takato panted, leaning over as he tried to catch his breath. "I know you can handle yourself but we need to get used to fighting as a team again."

"I didn't do this," Guilmon murmured softly in a strangely serious tone of voice, eyes narrowed as he looked up at his Tamer. "Another Digimon got here before I did and loaded the data of the Wild One – I can feel it. It wasn't a nice Digimon that did this Takato, it wanted to hurt anything in its path." Takato's Partner added upon seeing his shocked look.

"Wait, so you're saying there's something still here possibly," Takato asked, but Guilmon shook his head as to single that whatever had done this was long since gone from the scene of the crime. Growling, Takato buried his face in his hands, before ruffling his hair with a howl of frustration; why was fate so determined to toy with him today? _Maybe karma finally decided it was time to cough-up and make me pay my dues..._

Sighing, the younger Tamer stood up properly, giving his friend a quick scratch behind the ears, murmuring; "C'mon boy, let's get you back to the shed before someone figures out I'm missing from school." That was the last thing he needed, still the years had provided him with a lot of hidden cynicism and Takato had long come to realise that if something could possibly go wrong then odds are that it would – which meant between the picnic zone the utility shed something was bound to blow up in his face. He didn't even get to turn around before Guilmon gave a growl and spun around, and Takato followed him.

Fancy Suit had returned, dressed in the same grab as the day before and casually propped against one of the nearby trees that hadn't been upturned. The older man just smirked at Takato, lighting up a cigarette under the shade of the tall tree, taking off his hat to run a hand through his hair for a moment.

"I never took you as one to skip out on school, even when duty called," Fancy Suit said after taking a long drag, "colour me impressed, Matsuki. You're more dedicated than I figured which works out well for me but it also lost me a bet. Ah well, balance and all that other cosmic bullshit,"

"What does the clock on the website mean?" Takato said without missing a beat, eyes narrowing as a little of frustration began to boil over. The last thing he'd needed was for the mysterious man to pop up with more cryptic information and try to manipulate him into doing something incredibly stupid.

"That's a rather odd question to lead with…" Fancy Suit chuckled, pushing off of the tree and walking over to join Takato were he could look out over the picnic area better.

"_What does the clock mean_?" Takato repeated, but Fancy Suit just shrugged, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"I don't know," Takato didn't believe him for a second, even when he put a hand over his heart and added: "Hand over heart I swear I don't know what the clock is counting down to. I was just following orders when I gave you that link. My bosses like to keep me on a need to know basis when it comes to their plans."

"Your bosses?"

"Ah-ah-ah, don't want any spoilers now, do you?" the suit wearing man grinned, before flicking away his cigarette after taking one last drag. "But my bosses aren't important right now, what is important though is that you understand that this is only a tiny teaser of the kind of rampant destruction that is coming your way. The Olympians were never much for subtly and you can't fight all of them along - they will reduce half of Tokyo to dust if it gets them the thing they seek."

"So one of these Olympians did this?" Fancy suit nodded without a word. "Will the address you gave me let me more about these Olympians?"

"No," Fancy Suit shook his head, folding his arms over his chest s his expression turned serious. "The woman whose address I gave you knows very little of the Olympians, none of which is relevant to the battle you'll have to fight. What she can tell you is the true origins of the Tamers and their history up until the battle with the D-Reaper and their side of it. Whilst it might not seem like it, it's all information you'll need sooner or later so why don't you just go ahead and ask the question which is really bothering you,"

"Why haven't all the other Partner Digimon returned?" Takato asked, not sure if the answer would bring him any sort of odd comfort he could pass along to Kazu or if it would only make things worse.

"Because history is repeating itself and these things take time," Fancy Suit turned to him, smirking as he pushed the brim of his hate out of his face with one finger, "give it another few days. There's an order of arrival that needs to be respected. Toddles,"

And with that Fancy Suit walked off, Takato more than happy to let him walk away – he had everything he needed to make his move already. "C'mon, Guilmon we have someone we need to see." Guilmon blinked dumbly at him, tilting his head in confusion but nonetheless followed behind his Tamer without questioning where they were going.

It took him some time find the exact spot he was looking for, his memory being a little hazy on the exact details but Takato found what he was looking for in the end. Checking the watch on his Digivice as he walked down the grassy slope towards the dirt path the brunette realised it was pointless to delay the whole thing considering he been gone from school so long already that it was pretty clear he'd skipped class.

_That nasty sensation that someone was watching me, it's a little different now but there's no denying it now… _"You can come out now, Renamon!" Takato called as he arrived in the middle of the dirt path and tucked his hands into his pocket. _Chronologically speaking among the Shinjuku Tamers Ryo was first to receive a partner, then Henry. Rika was the third one to become a Tamer and I came after her. _

Whilst he was pretty confident in his theory it didn't mean he was prepared for what actually happened. Somewhere out of sight a twig snapped, Guilmon's hackles raised and his eyes narrowed as he let out a low, feral snarl; "I sense worthy prey." Only for the worthy prey in question to come crashing down from out of the sky and pummel his the red Rookie into the dirt like a teddy bear, the ground cracking under the force, cloud flying up into the air.

Guilmon wasn't about to accept such a sucker punch without a retort and rolled over, throwing his attacker off of him before he snapped his head around and blasted the shadowy figure with a flaming ball of hot plasma. A few years ago the sight probably would have had Takato panicking and completely at a loss over what to do, but he'd be a liar if he said a part of him hadn't expected the whole ordeal after the day he'd had so far.

A large yellow and white vixen skidded back across the dirt path, casually dusting herself off as her tail whipped around behind her. Looking up, the Digimon met Takato's eye and smirked at the sight of his goggles. Once the Kitsune hadn't been much taller than him or any of the other Tamers, now she still managed to match his eye level at nearly six foot, she was as well groomed, her purple gloves gone and replaced by shiny, form fighting purple gauntlets that partially cover her arms up to her elbows worn over white wraps with long black, silver studded belts wrapped around her upper arms.

"Takato… _Guilmon_," Renamon said in the same deep, husky tone of voice he remembered as she nodded in greeting, a little taken aback by Guilmon's own changes. "I must say it took you a little longer than I thought to realise it was me following you all morning."

Takato wasn't listening though; he was too busy staring at the girl who was now leaning against the wire fence behind Renamon. Dressed in her own school uniform, white tights, black pleated skirt, white shirt and cute little red tie underneath a large white hoodie with purple interior and teal coloured sleeves. After a long pause the girl finally took off the headphones she'd been wearing over her hood and hung them around her neck so she could pull down her hood and glare at him with amethyst eyes over matching tinted sunglasses.

She'd cut her copper coloured hair, once long and more often than not done up in a pineapple ponytail it was mostly gone now, replaced by a slightly longer than average, spiky pixie cut with a blond streaked fringe hanging over one eye. Though it had been roughly just over a year, Rika Makino was pretty much exactly the same as he remember (hair cut aside) and even though he towered over her Takato wouldn't deny he was intimidated a little by the look he was getting. Rika was a high class swimmer and up and coming mixed martial artist more than capable of kicking his rear without so much as breaking a sweat.

"Rika," he finally managed, doing his best to look like he actually wanted to be there. Admittedly he _was _glad to be there, he was even happier that Rika was indeed really there – after everything he _finally_ had an excuse to confront her after the way things had ended between them. The only problem was he really didn't want to have the conversation that was looming if he could avoid it, he didn't want to know where it might lead but his odds of dodging it were none existent.

It was his own fault he was in the damned situation in the first place, he wouldn't deny that, although most people thought otherwise Takato had never done so well in high pressure situations. Everyone had this odd belief that he did for whatever reason, that he could stand up and lead when no one else could but truth was more often than not he got through high pressure situations like the battle with the D-Reaper simple because there wasn't any other option left to him. But in the one situation that had really counted he'd run away because the other possibility had terrified him because so many things could've gone horribly, horribly wrong if he'd taken that route.

"Gogglehead," Takato's face screwed up at the nickname, they were back to square one. A long time ago it had been a demeaning nickname which was later used with begrudging respect and finally it was only saved for when Rika was either feeling playful and wanted to tease him or was _really _annoyed with him. It shouldn't have surprised him he was back to being Gogglehead or any combination nickname featuring the word goggle but it still stung to be set so far back.

"Listen, Rika –"

"Save it, I don't care about anything you have to say." _Damn that's cold… _Takato thought, even if he agreed that Rika had every right to hate on him there was something much bigger than their problems going on they needed to put things aside for a day or two and get a handle on the situation. "You got your dino back, big whoop - just stay out of my way and we can both just get on with our lives."

Takato wanted to snap back with a retort of his own, he was really sick of people's attitude today and it wasn't even time for lunch yet. Anything he might have bit back with though died in his mouth as Guilmon seemed to flicker and buzz, almost becoming transparent as his coded flashed for all to see. "Guilmon…!"

"It's coming – the first of four. One of them has come to this world," Guilmon hissed, turning away from everyone else as he seemed to stabilize and head off in the direction of Tokyo Bay. "First the dragon by sea, then the one of wood and strings where others shall gather and finally the master of machines set upon the island to broadcast their message to the world – three of the four shall come to lay the ground work for The Final Coming."

"What the hell is your dino babbling about, Gogglehead!?" Rika demanded as they all went chasing after the single minded Guilmon, but Takato had no answer, even if he did he wouldn't have gotten to give it as both Digivices went off with a shriek. Four words were enough to cause Rika to go pale and leave Takato utterly confused. _Category Four: Materialisation Imminent. _

"What the heck is a Category Four?"

"A Category is a designation; a system used by these new model of Digivice to help discern the level and power of a Digimon that is about to enter the human world." Renamon said as they lost sight of Guilmon as he exited the park, but the shrieks of passers-by, skidding cars and savage growls meant they didn't lose his trail. "A Category Four is the equivalent to an extremely powerful Mega-level Digimon, one that will cause untold damage it not deleted quickly."

"Whatever the hell it is it's about to Biomerge right in the middle of Tokyo Bay in _broad daylight_, looks like it will come out by the Rainbow Bridge!" _Oh that's not good… _"Looks like the world's about to get a real rude wake up call," Rika said with a hint of bitterness and slight smugness, and Takato himself couldn't help but wonder just how well the government was going to take the fact that their plan to bury their heads in the sand didn't work very well in the long run.

"Are you kidding me, there's no way we'll get there in time to stop this thing before it starts causing chaos!" Takato wanted to tear his hair out as he began to slow down, even for someone that ran long distances on a daily basis this was ridiculous and Guilmon was long gone and only a trail of panic and damage proved he was ever there. _What the heck was Guilmon even talking about…? Dragon by sea and one of wood and strings…? _His eyes went wide when he put two and two together and suddenly realised just why that all sounded so familiar.

"Holy _shit_, it _is_ real!" Takato laughed for some reason even he didn't understand, throwing his arms up and wondering around in small circle as he ruffled his own hair. The reality of the situation had just hit him, Rika looking at him as though he'd sprouted a second head, taken aback by his his sudden cursing asd the goggle wearing Tamer tried to control his fit of hysterics.

"Wanna clue me in, genius?" The short redhead finally interrupted, he'd all but forgotten she had no idea what was going on in his fit of mad laughter, she just continued to glare up at him when she got no response.

"Not enough time to explain, we need to stop Guilmon and whatever is about to Biomerge in the Bay; though I'd bet good money on it being a MetalSeadramon." Takato shook his head, pointing off in the direction of Shinjuku Station. "Our only option is to get to Shinjuku Station and hope the trains aren't too busy and we can still get there before something serious happens."

"There is no _we_," Rika stated coldly as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Listen, Rika I get you really don't like me much right now but this isn't about us, and I need your help. _Please_," Takato said softly as he realised just how bad things were between them. He'd hoped she would be able to at least tolerate the idea of helping him if it meant protecting innocent people from crazed, wild Digimon. Rika just looked up at him for one long moment, the next thing he knew he was on his rear clutching his face, seeing as how she'd just punched him. _Defiantly could have been worse, _Takato decided as the redhead glared down at him.

"Don't think for a second this is anywhere near done. I want answers, about whatever you and your dino are blabbering about even if I need to beat them out of you." Takato just nodded, still nursing his sore face as he clambered back to his feet.

"I'll tell you everything I know," Takato swore, as he offered her a handshake. Rika instead looked down at him, eyes a storm of sadness and anger. He quickly took the hint and retracted his hand. She wasn't ready to trust him again, and he couldn't say he blamed her. The Cooper haired girl grunted, glaring at him one last time before she jerked her head towards the train station.

"This _isn't_ over," _I don't know what I'd do if it was, _Takato thought as Renamon faded from on Rika's orders and the pair began the mad dash towards Shinjuku Train Station. _Baby steps, Takato, _he told himself, _first make sure the giant evil Digimon about to arrive in the bay doesn't kill anyone and then you can panic about how you're going to fix things with Rika. _

* * *

**A/N:** I have no excuse, well I do have a few, but I'm not going to bother with them seeing as it'd be redundant. Just know this one only took so long because I had an ungodly difficult time getting the tone the way I wanted and figuring which of the four directions I will eventually go I wanted to take first; action draws near! This chapter was in truth so difficult to write because it's meant to highlighting Takato's more flawed side and giving him some rather human and possible detractors in his frustration and showing a little bit of his temper.

Also Rika made her first appearance, much earlier than I had originally planned but it's only fitting that she be the first one Takato confronts, so to speak. I really hope you guys don't kill me over the fact the pineapple cut is gone - part of me really wanted to keep it because it's so iconic and a part of her but at the same time loosing it seemed like am excellent way to show just how much she's grown out of the girl she used to be but there's a lot of that twelve year old mini punk still holding strong even though she's actually the oldest of the Shinjuku bunch in this story - more on that later.

Apologizes once again, catch you next time.


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